Pics from the factory! (But wait, there’s a problem)

[JTaylor]

After seeing how Lakeliving (Andy) got pictures of his boat being built, I asked my dealer if he could get us pictures of ours being built as well.  Here is what the factory sent, along with their apologies about the quality of the photos.









However, we immediately noticed that the seats had the monochrome accent, not the Crimson Red accent that we ordered (going for the ’56 Chevy look).  J  I’m glad we were able to tell them about the mistake now instead of seeing the problem at delivery.

Looks like instead of just swapping out the seats, my dealer is going to buy the boat himself for his inventory and Bennington will just start a new build for me.  So these aren’t pictures of my new toon after all.  L

John

 

[BigKahuna]

Well.......... post pics of your "other" boat when you get em.............

 

[lakeliving]

Beautiful boat but bummer they messed up on the seats. I'm glad you caught it early. Ours was noticed once it was at the dealer and the check was made out. Hopefully they get your next one put into production asap. I also noticed you didn't get the docking lights. I highly recommend the stainless ones. I think they look great and really make the boat look sharp. And I think we're the only two on here with the new 200 so far.

 

[BulldogsCadillac]

Yeah, I like my stainless lights much more than the plastic ones.

 

[sunnyside360]

I also noticed you didn't get the docking lights. I highly recommend the stainless ones. I think they look great and really make the boat look sharp.

Ditto!!  I got the SS docking lights since they look better.  However, I don't know if they function better at night.

 

[cwag911]

Better light out of the regular docking lights but the stainless looks sharp. I have the old style (plastic) and swapped the bulbs  with Silverstar Ultras so I get plenty of light at night. I also put leds in the navi lights.

 

[dasalmon]

I was disappointed with the light that the stainless units put out but they sure are sharp looking.

 

[Iraq 69]

Hey JTaylor,

Cool idea!! Any thing special to do or just ask the dealer once they get a build date to have pics taken? I need to check on this!

Thanks,

Marc

 

[JTaylor]

I just asked the dealer, and he contacted the factory.  He got a "no promises, but we'll try" response.  Glad it worked, but it would be nice to get ones of my actual boat!

John 

 

[JTaylor]

Beautiful boat but bummer they messed up on the seats. I'm glad you caught it early. Ours was noticed once it was at the dealer and the check was made out. Hopefully they get your next one put into production asap. I also noticed you didn't get the docking lights. I highly recommend the stainless ones. I think they look great and really make the boat look sharp. And I think we're the only two on here with the new 200 so far.

I should have read Andy's post a bit more clearly.  The dealer brought the "not our boat" to this weekend's Chantilly boat show so I was able to thoroughly check out the 99.9% match to our boat, which has a build date in 1 week.  Due to my ignorance when choosing options, I assumed some version of docking lights came standard with the boat, and the ABS and stainless steel options on the build website were just upgrades.  I learned otherwise when I saw the boat had no docking lights at all.  

Since we'll be doing a fair amount of night boating, I feel I really want the lights.  The SS lights look a lot better than the ABS ones, but almost too good given the plainness of S models in general.  I just reviewed previous posts here on docking lights and it seems like the ABS ones might work a bit better, unless that's a function of the type of bulbs being used.  Right now I'm inclined to not spend the extra $$ to get the SS.  (But will on my next upgraded boat.   )

The dealer seems confident he can contact Bennington on Monday to add the lights to the order.  What are everyone's thoughts on SS vs ABS, or even the need for docking lights at all?        

 

[Jack M]

As others have stated " Buy your last boat first "

If you like the SS ,get them .It will be much less in the long run than getting another boat next season .

I had the ABS on my 22 SLX last year .

SS is standard on the RCW 

 

[lakeliving]

My wife's family has an 06 R series with the plastic ones and they are starting to show stress cracks where the screw holds them to the deck. That sold me on the SS ones right there.

 

[cwag911]

Our 07' purchased in June of 06' has the plastic light housings and they're fine. Of course the boat is always covered if we're not in it. The stainless lights look much better but I get better light from the Silverstar Ultras in the plastic ones. I did put leds in them for the navi lights.

 

[CC_PA]

I think I have posted this somewhere before.  We have the stainless steel ones and when I pull into the dock at night with them on, I can't even tell they are on.  There is some ambient light surrounding the docks, but no light actually on the docks.  If it was pitch black I'm sure it would make a difference.  I'm glad to have the stainless ones for the look.

 

[Link]

One of the best things I bought for the boat was a pair of solar powered dock lights. Our association dock holds 18 boats, there is a walkway to the left and one to the right of my boat so it is like pulling into a parking spot between two cars. At the end of each "finger" I placed one of the solar lights facing out [they do light up in both directions]. Then when we come back in the pitch black it is easy to see and they are much more helpful than the stainless steel docking lights. Bought them at Home Depot, think I paid around $35